Paper number 522

TENSILE DEFORMATION AND FRACTURE BEHAVIOUR OF MAGNESIUM MATRIX COMPOSITES PRODUCED BY DIFFERENT CASTING METHODS

M. Y. Ahmad1, P. B. Prangnell1 and H. Karimzadeh2

1Manchester Materials Science Centre
UMIST/University of Manchester
Grosvenor Street, Manchester M1 7HS, England
2Magnesium Elektron, PO Box 23, Swinton
Manchester M27 8DD, England

Summary Measurements are reported of the strength, ductility, and elastic behaviour of a magnesium AS41 alloy matrix composite reinforced with SiC particles and produced by different casting methods. Particular emphasis is paid to investigating the effects of different spatial distributions of the reinforcing particles on the composite's mechanical behaviour. The homogeneity of the particle distributions (severity of clustering) was quantified from analysis of the near neighbour inter-particle spacings. The effect of the degree of inhomogeneity of the reinforcement's distribution on the fracture and micro-yielding behaviour of the composites was studied by measuring the particle density along the fracture line, and analysing the derivatives of the material's initial stress-strain responses.
Keywords magnesium matrix composite, SiC particles, tensile properties, fracture, particle distribution, clustering.

Theme : Metal Matrix Composites

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